Complication of gall stone disease

Complication of gall stone disease

Mrs. Rekha Singh (name changed), a 55 years old housewife was having pain in her abdomen for many weeks. Pain and acidity would increase after meals and she was very uncomfortable. Due to the lockdown, she did some home remedies and kept on taking painkillers off and on. Finally, when the pain became unbearable, she consulted her family physician online who advised her to do a sonography of the abdomen. Sonography revealed stones in the gall bladder alongwith infection of the gall bladder wall (cholecystitis). She was treated with antibiotics for a week and felt better temporarily. However, her symptoms reappeared after a few days. She consulted her family physician again who advised her to visit the hospital. Due to the fear of contracting Covid 19, she resisted coming to the hospital and continued to self-medicate at home for a few more weeks. Eventually, she was brought to the hospital, with severe pain in abomen, high fever, vomiting and low blood pressure. The CT scan revealed that because of prolonged infection, the gall bladder had ruptured into her abdomen, leading to the formation of a very large pus collection on the right side of her abdomen. The infection had also spread into her blood (septicemia) which had led to shock. A laparoscopic cholecystectomy with peritoneal lavage and drainage was performed by Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker at Namaha Hospital in Kandivali West, Mumbai. The surgery was difficult and time consuming. The recovery was stormy with many ups and downs. It took her more than a week after the surgery to recover and get discharged from the hospital.

Perspective

Covid 19 pandemic has led to immense fear in the minds of people and as a result of this the treatment of all other ailments has taken a backseat. People are scared to come to the hospitals and they bear pain and other symptoms till it becomes unbearable. They self-medicate dangerously. This leads to unnecessary delays and unwarranted complications. Like in the above cases which are simple case of gall bladder stones. Gall stone disease is a common ailment. In normal scenario, a laparoscopic gall bladder surgery takes less than an hour to perform and the usual stay in the hospital is for 48 to 72 hours. However, as you can see in the above case, the fear has led to a delay in diagnosis which has led to severe complications that were totally avoidable. Such delays lead to further complications and immense suffering for the patient not only physically but also mentally and financially. Not to mention the potential risk to life due to all the complications caused.

Since the Covid 19 pandemic has started, we are seeing this trend more and more. Patients are delaying coming to the hospital and when they do come, it is quite late in the course of their disease. This makes everything much more difficult and also affects the treatment outcomes. In the last 1 year, since the lockdown has begun, we have been treating more and more such complicated cases. Covid 19 pandemic is a reality that we all have to face but other diseases are important too and they can lead to a lot of suffering and risk if not treated on time. Please do not delay treatment as the delay may cost you your life. See your doctor in a timely manner to prevent such complications.

Dr. Aparna Govil Bhasker